Total Reverse of the Heart
by SophiaCrutchfeild
Summary: Suze went back in time at the end of Heaven Sent/Twilight, and saved Jesse, but she herself died in the process. 150 years later, Jesse de Silva reincarnated comes to Carmel... and he is a mediator. Can Suze win him back, now that she is the ghost?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This is my first fan-fiction piece ever. What if Suze had died during the barn scene in Twilight/Heaven Sent? What if, years latr, Jesse was reincarnated and moved to Carmel California, and Suze was haunting his bedroom? Flame if you like, I probably need the help.**

**-Sophia**

Prologue

_Once upon a time ago, I saw dead people._

_Then I fell in love with one._

_His name was Jesse de Silva, and he haunted my bedroom. He saved my life over and over again, so I decided to save his. With another mediator named Paul Slater at my side, I went back in time. Jesse was incredible alive, and he fought off the man trying to kill him, but the barn where we were staying caught fire. Jesse tried to save me._

_He survived. I did not._

_ Now, 150 years later, I am back in my own time. I am a ghost, but I am back in the 21__st__ century. A new family is moving in. maybe, finally, someone will see me. _

_ Maybe there is another mediator coming._

The dreams are stronger here.

The dreams are of the girl, Susannah, the girl that fills my head with insanity.

I hate these dreams, but I love the girl.

My name is Jesse de Silva, and I dream of dead people.


	2. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: Italics mean Suze's POV. Other than that, it's in Jesse's POV.**

Chapter One

My name is Jesse Silver, and I am in love with a girl who I have never met. Her name is Susannah, and I dream about her every night. I have been having these dreams since I turned eighteen, two years ago. The dreams make very little sense to me, because, in the dreams, I am dead. Susannah can see my ghost. She says she loves me, and, in my mind, she is the world.

If I were not a ghost, I know I would die for her. She is beautiful, headstrong, and hates when people try to mess with her. She is intelligent and brave, and when I wake up, it kills me. Kills me. I wish she could be real, even though if she were, I would be dead.

If you think I am being melodramatic, you have never loved anyone. Not like this. Even when she is angry and we are fighting, or when I am trying to hide ho much I care about her, I am happier with Susannah in my dreams than with any other girl in reality. It's kind of sad.

I am moving to Carmel today. Carmel, California. I know what it will look like. I want to be there, because that is where she was. Is. I don't know.

I am going to UCSC for college. I am studying to become a doctor. I want to help heal people. I have always been attracted to places where I can help with medicine, and I used to take care of my little sisters when they were sick. I don't know, maybe I just like to see my efforts pay off and help someone, except that social work has never really appealed to me, and I am terrible with people. I try to be nice, but my generation can be so annoying at times. I guess I was born in the wrong century.

I am on the flight when I notice a shimmer out of the corner of my eye. Out of the window, I see what appears to be the fuzzy outline of a girl… but that's impossible. We are a mile in the air!

As the plane lands, I try to imagine what Carmel will be like. I don't expect to find the literal girl of my dreams here, but I have to imagine that it will be different from my old home in New York. My car was shipped here ahead of time, and I find it waiting for me in the parking lot. I turn on the radio and an old song comes on… Oh, Susannah? I don't understand how THAT ended up on the radio, but… okay.

Strange music aside, the drive isn't that bad. I was expecting worse, but traffic was weirdly good, and I was at my new house within the hour. Yes, house. I rented it from some people who's daughter went missing last year. Poor kid. I felt sympathetic, but not alarmed. I got a pretty good deal on a house in the Carmel Hills, so what the heck?

It's a beautiful house too, very tasteful, all wood. Inside, my boxes litter the floor. I suddenly feel glad that the house had been locked, as it appeared the movers were early. I grab a mattress (no sense setting up the bed right this very instant) and climb the stairs to the best bedroom, the one with a window seat and a view of the ocean.

That's when I see her.

She's sitting on the window seat, looking out over the sea. Her black hair is fluttering in the breeze from the open window. She gives off a faint glow.

"Susannah."

She spins around, and her pink lips part, her vivid green eyes filling with emotion and tears. Am I asleep? No, I'm not a ghost, so I can't be. She's here, she's real, and she's… in my bedroom?

"J-Jesse? How… you're…" Her voice is musical, and she sounds shocked, and slightly scared, and like she can't believe… something. She slowly stands up. "Jesse, is that you?"

"Yes, it is. I can't believe it…"

She runs to me and throws her arms around my neck. I stiffen. I have dreamed of this girl, okay, but I only just met her, and … okay, now she's kissing me. I slowly pull away, and smile at her awkwardly. "Um, its nice to meet you too?"

She jerks back, as f I slapped her. "What?"

"I said its nice to meet you… but what exactly are you doing in my bedroom?"

She looks at me, now angrily. "You mean _my_ bedroom!"

"What?"

She slaps me. Hard.

"I _died _for you! And you don't even remember it? I _cannot_ believe you!"

She is crying. I don't understand what she is talking about. "What do you mean, you died for me? You're not dead."

"Yes Jesse, I am!" she screams, and she disappears into thin air.

_He doesn't know me. I loved him enough to give him up, to risk my life over and over and die in the end, and he doesn't know me._

_He knows my name, somehow. At least there's that. I just can't believe I dream of seeing him again for a hundred and fifty years, and then he acts like he has no clue who I am._

_God, why does everything have to be so awful? I don't usually whine, but really, what did I do to deserve this? First that sucky mediator thing, then falling for someone who was already dead, dying myself, and at last, seeing Jesse again, and he has no clue who I am. _

_Tell me what I did to deserve that._


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Okay, so who wants more of Ghost-Suze and Human-Jesse? I'm sorry, but Suze will be acting a little mopey in this fic, but no worries, she's going to get back up. We'll see her fight a little bit in this chapter. Also, our favorite love-to-hate mediator makes an appearance… Give it up for Paul Slater! Whoo!**

Chapter Two

So ghosts were real. Well… great. And I managed to find the girl of my dreams, only to piss her off. And she also happens to be dead. I am so screwed. I don't know why I'm so shocked. She was a girl who I talked to in my dreams. I should have guessed that she wouldn't be normal. I did guess it. I just never thought she would be dead. Or that she would freak out when I said it was nice to meet her. I still don't get that part.

If she isn't as beautiful, if not more, than in my dreams, though, then… well, it doesn't matter, because she is. She seems powerful and … okay, a little mad… a lot mad… but still. Beautiful.

I fall asleep thinking of Susannah, how it felt when she kissed me, when she hit me, and I dream…

_He is asleep when I return. He's hotter than I remember. I always loved Jesse, but now, now I just can't handle this. I don't know this man, do I? This is Jesse, but he lives in the twenty-first century. He never died. He never met Maria de Silva-Diego. He never met me. _

_Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Isn't that the expression? My stupid heart stopped beating and rotted away years ago. It feels like it was just a few months ago that I went back in time to stop Paul from saving Jesse._

_In retrospect, I should have let Paul do it. I couldn't let Jesse die anyway, and it killed me to go back. Paul escaped. Why not me? Because I was too stupid to shift back in time. Because when I jumped with Jesse I broke my leg, and he couldn't get to me through the wall of flames. He tried, but I was dead before he succeeded. _

_How does he not remember? He knows my _name, _but he didn't know I was dead, even though I have that special glow now that only ghosts have. I sit on the window seat again and just as the sun is coming up, I see it, already on the bookshelf, the only piece of furniture Jesse set up._

_Critical Theory Since Plato. Fabulous._

I wake up and she is sitting in the window seat, glaring at my bookcase. I don't know what my books did to offend her, but she seems pretty pissed off.

"Why are you having a staring contest with my books?" I ask.

She looks at me with her eyes still narrowed. "_Why_ do you still like that book? I could name a million more interesting ones, but you keep up with _that _one?"

"Which one?" I ask, confused be her use of pronouns.

"Critical Theory Since freaking Plato!"

I vaguely remember a dream where I offered to read to her from a copy of that book. She decided to do homework instead. I laugh.

"Critical Theory Since Plato is not boring, Querida," I tell her.

She freezes. "What?"

"It really isn't, its very-"

"No, Jesse, what did you just call me?"

I realize what I called her. "Um, is there a problem? I always call you Querida. You usually don't mind…"

"What do you mean, usually?" she asks.

In the dreams. It's what I call her in the dreams.

"Um, nothing, sorry," I mutter.

She looks at me. "Jesse, how come you know my name, but you don't really know me?"

I sigh. "Don't freak out."

"If you know me… Jesse, if you remember me…"

"I do and I don't. I have been having dreams about you for two years, but I thought you were imaginary until yesterday."

She looks at me, and I see the wheels spinning in her head.

"Do you remember Heather?" she asks.

Heather… I don't like the name, but I can't remember why. I tell her this.

"Probably because she tried to murder me several times," she says, sounding a little let down. "Do you remember a guy named Paul Slater?"

That name I know. "Yes," I growl.

Susannah gives me a small grin. "That's good to know." As far as I can tell, it is not. Slater is a spoiled brat with too much power who likes to attack those who seek his help, and one of the few people I truly despise.

"I remember watching a movie with you, E.T., and turning it off in the middle to… 'talk,'" I smile, standing up. She smiles. She remembers that too.


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note- Okay, okay, so maybe a few things in this haven't exactly made sense. I covered this in the blurb thing, but I should probably clarify. Jesse de Silva has been reincarnated as Jesse Silver. He has dreams of his past life, but the dreams are a little sketchy. Also, I know I promised to bring Paul into the last chapter, don't worry, he will show up. I have the whole story planned out in my head… In fact, at this moment I am planning 33 stories, and that's just fan-fiction! Also, thanks to Livia and Helena for reviewing! **

Chapter Three

The next day I drive over to the UCSC, to start classes. I can't wait to start pre-med! They say medical school is twelve years, but really it's more like sixteen. I just enjoy learning. That makes me an anomaly, I know, but like I said, I was born in the wrong century.

Susannah helps me get ready. She seems pleased with the events of last night.

"Hey, Jesse, do you still like Jaws?" she asks me.

"Yes, why?"

"Nothing," she says with a little bit of a smile.

I know she is comparing me in her head to the ghost she says I once was. I don't know how I can really compete with myself. This other version of me seems to be smart, and suave, and the perfect gentleman. I doubt that I could ever be all that. Smart, yes. The rest? I don't think so.

I am contemplating this as I drive to school. That is why I don't notice the bright silver convertible until it crashes into my car. (**Author's note- I told you so.)**

I get out of my own car to find the driver of the convertible cursing and screaming at the sky. He seems quite insane.

"####, ####, ####!" he yells. "Stupid ####ing deer!"

"Um, sir, are you alright?" I ask.

He stops yelling. He turns around very slowly. "Well, well, well. How did you manage to get here, Mr. de Silva?"

"Um, Mr. Silver, actua- Hey!" the insane man just punched me. Now he is yelling at me, something about it being my fault and someone dying… Oh. _Oh._

"You knew Susannah?" I ask. He stares at me, blankly.

"Yeah, I knew her. I know her. She is still at your #### house!" he glares at me. "And yeah, de Silva, I know you too. I don't get how you're alive, but we know each other. My name is Paul Slater."

_I decide to talk to Father Dominic about this recent turn of events. _

_I materialize down at the Mission, and I watch the students go by. I see Doc, flashing a new ghost-tracking device he's made, and smiling when he sees my form show up on it. _

"_Suze?" he calls out. I snatch a pencil out of his backpack and write him the word 'yes.' He beams. I write, 'Can't talk now, have fun at school.'_

"_I will, we're dissecting frogs in science!" he says, grinning. _

'_Ew.'_

_He laughs as I vanish. Father D is waiting to see me._

"_Susannah, what a nice surprise," he says smiling. "So how is David?"_

"_Apparently they're dissecting frogs in science today."_

_Father D laughs. "I thought David would enjoy that."_

"_Listen, Father, as much as I want to stay and talk, something big has happened." I fill him in on Jesse and how he remembers some things but has no clue about others. "Tell me what to do."_

"_Oh, my. Well, this is a predicament. Why don't you send Jesse over here to speak with me?"_

_I smile._

"Slater," I growl.

"So you remember me. I'm touched," he deadpans.

"Look, I'm really not who you think I am. Well, technically I am, but I'm a different version, I guess…" now Slater is looking at me like _I'm _the sociopathic lunatic. "Ever hear of reincarnation?" I ask.

"Go to hell," Slater suggests. "I don't care how you ended up alive in the twenty-first century." With that, he flips my off, and tries to start his car. Finding that it works fine, he drives off.

"Of all the people to suddenly crash into," I mutter. To top it all off, I'm late for class.


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note- So what do you think of that? Not only was Paul introduced, but Doc was too! Doc is definitely one of my favorite characters. Expect more of him! Also, yes, Father D calls him Doc. It's catchy. Sister Ernestine doesn't though, so watch out for her!**

Chapter Four

After class, I found Susannah waiting for me with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed. What did I do this time?

"Go down to the mission right now," she tells me. "Father D wants to talk to you. Now."

I remember Father D. He never liked me, I don't think. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure he thought I was going to end up hurting Susannah. As such, I don't really want to talk to him.

Susannah wants me to talk to him, though, and I don't fancy her being mad at me, so I allow her to pretty much pull me all the way down to the mission. This should be good.

In all honesty, Father D seems much less angry that Susannah.

"Hello Jesse, you're looking well," he says.

"Thank you, Father," I reply. "I guess I do look better than the last time you saw me."

Susannah smirks. Father D nods.

"So I hear you have been- Ahem- reincarnated?" Father D asks, uncomfortably. I nod. "Well, that's, um, nice."

Susannah groans quietly. "Enough with the niceties, you're both too polite for your own good! Ok, so here's the deal: Jesse has been reincarnated, and somehow he kind of remembers me, but not really. Also, even though he's alive now, we're in the same position as before, because now I'm dead. Okay?"

Well, when she puts it like that…

Father D looks slightly annoyed, but I'm kind of relieved that we got that bit out. Susannah looks ticked off, but not at me, at least. More like at our situation. I take her hand and she looks surprised, but happy. I smile at her.

"Don't worry, Querida, we've dealt with this situation before, and it didn't stop us then, did it?" I whisper to her. She blushes and nods. I can tell she is happy, and I want to make her happy over and over again. "So after this, let's rent a movie, okay? Your choice." She nods again. Father D clears his throat. Oh, right. He's still here.

"So, Jesse, is there anything you wish to discuss?" he asks.

"Actually, there is," I tell him. "I ran into a man today, who I believe we all know."

"You don't mean…" Susannah starts and I nod. "You ran into _Paul Slater_?" She says it with such horror that I laugh. I don't like Slater at all, but he poses no severe threat, as far as I can tell. Susannah hits me. "Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"You didn't ask!" I don't know why she's so angry, but I can tell that she is angry and also _frightened._ I don't get it, but I guess Slater might be a bigger threat than I realized.

_ I can't believe he didn't tell me! He ran into Paul Slater and he didn't tell me! What was he thinking? He said he remembered Paul, so wouldn't he know how powerful he is? _

_ I guess not, because now he's looking at me like I'm Kelly Prescot freaking out over a bug. And I am NOT Kelly Prescot. _

_ "Jesse, Paul Slater is a shifter who hates you. Shifters can __murder the dead, and the living are just that much easier. __He has no morals and thinks that he's god. He only needs to touch you to kill you." Okay, now Jesse looks alarmed. Well, he should! Paul exorcised him once, and technically is the reason I'm dead. Except Paul blames Jesse. I don't know why, but he thinks that if Jesse didn't exist, he wouldn't have gone back in time, I wouldn't have followed him, and I would be Paul's girlfriend right now. I wouldn't, by the way. Paul is just delusional. Killers usually are._

_ And, okay, this killer had a killer smile and clear blue eyes and a great body, but that didn't mean he wasn't evil. And Jesse was way hotter. _

_ "Susannah, I'm sorry. I didn't know. He didn't seem very dangerous when I met him. I guess I thought he was just a spoiled kid who could see ghosts," Jesse told me. I shook my head. _

_ "You thought wrong."_

_ I dematerialize. I need some time to think._

I didn't know what to say. Susannah should fear nothing and no one. A spoiled little boy should not have any power over her.

So he wouldn't. Not for long, anyway. I would make sure of it, and then?

Then I was going to save the life of one Susannah Simon.


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Note- I know, I know, I'm posting fast, but I can't help it. The ideas just come to me and I'm bad with cliffhangers. Trust me on this, I write better on a flow than with jagged breaks. Expect a few chapters a day for at lest this story, maybe the rest of the summer. I estimate this fan-fiction should be between 10 and 20 chapters, so it might be done y the end of the week. Maybe. So if you like Paul/Suze fanfics, then comment and I will write one. This fic is strictly Jesse/Suze, so don't expect Paul to be more than a sexy villain.**

Chapter Five

One thing I remember is Paul's house. It's hard to forget a place where you were exorcised. Yes, I was exorcised. I remember that dream well. Except it wasn't a dream, was it? None of my dreams wee ever really dreams.

I drive up to the mansion, and ring the doorbell. A man with dreadlocks answers.

"I need to speak with Mr. Slater," I tell the man. He smiles and shows me in. I am brought to a room with a man sitting in a wheelchair, watching a television screen. This is not the Mr. Slater I had in mind, but I guess I could get some help from him. The attendant leaves and Mr. Slater turns toward me.

"So you must be Jesse de Silva, am I right?" he asks. "How is Susan doing?"

"Susannah," I correct him, "and she is dead."

Mr. Slater stares at me. "No, that can't be right. She was supposed to bring your body here, and you would both live happily ever after, or whatever it is teenagers do these days. She wasn't supposed to_ die._"

This man must be insane.

"She was all instincts at that moment, that's how it works for shifters, she would have brought you both back to the present, not died in 1850. You must have made a mistake, because she wouldn't be stupid enough to die, and if she died, you wouldn't be here now would you?" he finishes.

Yes, definitely insane.

"I am not Jesse de Silva. Well, I am, but that's not my name now. Apparently I was reincarnated. And Susannah is the dead one now."

Mr. Slater whistles. "That girl can't catch a break, can she? So why are _you_ here?"

"To learn time-travel and save her life."

Mr. Slater groans. "Well, if it were for anyone else, I would say no, but I like that girl, and you two have become better than a soap opera, so fine. You came to the right place."

_ Jesse went to Mr. Slaski._

_ Jesse went to Mr. Slaski._

_ No, it still doesn't sound right. For one, Mr. Slaski doesn't care about me. For another, I don't think Jesse is a shifter. And to top it all off, I'm dead. The dead can come back to life, yes, but not without seriously messing with the order of things. Ever hear of the butterfly effect people? And this is way bigger deal than a butterfly flapping its wings. This is someone who died __not dying.__ I don't know what Jesse could be thinking. _

_ Actually, I do know what he's thinking. I died saving him, so he should risk his life to save me. That's just how Jesse is._

_ I just don't know if he can even do it in the first place. Is he a shifter? I really don't know what he is in this incarnation. He doesn't either. Except, somehow, Mr. Slaski thinks Jesse can do it, and I won't contradict Mr. Slaski on shifter business. You would be mad to do that._

_ I just hope Jesse comes to his senses before he does something he will regret._

Time travel seems easy enough. I need something of Susannah's though. I guess I could ask her younger brother, David. He's a smart kid, and must have something of hers.

Susannah thinks I'm crazy. Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, but I'm doing this for her. I have to. Maybe then we can get our happy ending that Mr. Slater- Slaski?- predicted. Susannah deserves the happy ending. She will get it.


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Note- Well, this will be done fast. Chapter six people! Please, review. I have 32 views and only 3 reviews. That's less than 10%. I won't bug you about it anymore, but I could use some flames. Thanks! Also, yes, this one is short, and yes, this story will probably end up under 10 chapters.**

Chapter Six

I find David in the Mission Courtyard. He doesn't recognize me at first, but when I tell him my name, he freaks out a little bit.

"You're dead, right? I thought you were dead. Do you know where Suze is? I think she's dead, but I contact her from time to time. What exactly are you doing here?"

This boy asks a lot of questions. Let's see… "I was dead, I was reincarnated, Suze is dead, and I'm here to change that." David looks at me skeptically. I can tell he thinks I'm not all there. Well, I'm not. Part of me is locked up in my head, or I would remember more. I can't help but think maybe when I save Susannah, I'll get the memories back.

"Look, I need something that belonged to Susannah so I can go back in time, do you have anything?" David nods slowly.

"She was my sister, I have lots of her stuff," he tells me. "What sort of thing do you want?"

"Anything that she owned, really. Just something small enough to hold."

"Will this really work?" David asks, eyes hopeful, a smile curving his mouth. I nod and tell him I believe it will.

"Bring my sister back," he tells me.

_ Unbelievable. Jesse has the token- a necklace of mine- and is going back in time in __two hours.__ Yeah, you read that right. He won't even wait a day to risk his life. Boys, I'm telling you. This might make other girls happy, but not me. Is it too much to ask that the people I care about just stay safe for ten freaking minutes?_

_ "Susannah, if this goes well, I'll get the full extent of our time together, and we will both be alive. Isn't that what you want?" he asks._

_ "Yeah it's what I want, but what if it doesn't go well?"_

_ "Well, we'll still be together," he says cheerfully. "And you forget that I was dead for a century and a half."_

_ No I didn't, but he did. He still doesn't remember his past before he met me at all. He said himself that he didn't even dream of me for most of his life. I can't help but wonder if there were other girls… there must have been, Jesse still looks the way he always did. I'll bet there were dozens. _

_ "Jesse?" I ask._

_ "Yes?"_

_ "Do you still love me?"_

_ He looks surprised. "Yes, why?" He smiles. "That can't ever disappear. I swear, it's the only thing you can really take with you."_

_ I look directly into his eyes. "If I kissed you now, what would you do?"_

_ He looks thoughtful for a minute. "I think… This." And then he is kissing me and I am in his arms and I know that I can't lose him again because he IS Jesse, and he WILL save me. I know it._

So I hold the necklace in my hand, and I picture the room in 1850, the way it would have been when Susannah went back in time, and I shift….

And find myself about six inches from Susannah Simon, and _I remember everything._


	8. Chapter 7

**Author's Note- I will be stealing heavily from book six, Heaven Sent/Twilight, for the rest of this story. I expect one or two more chapters, but we're in the home stretch people! Shout out to Livia- I'm glad you like it! Mr. Slaski can be pretty funny sometimes. That's why he exists, I think.**

Chapter Seven

Paul is there too, asleep, and here is Susannah, who is a mediator from the future who wants to save me. I shoot a glare at Slater, then remember that I don't know him well yet. I have to play dumb.

"You two are friends in the place you come from?" I ask.

She shakes her head, "Uh, not really. More like… colleagues. We both have the same… gift I guess you would call it."

"For traveling through time," I guess.

"Yes. And… other things."

"And when I kill Diego, you'll go back to where you came from?" A subtle reminder might help her when the time comes.

"Yes," she whispers, tears springing to her eyes.

"And you want to help me because…?"

"Because it's what I do," she says shortly.

Right. And because she loves me. I hope this works… "And you do this for all who die before their time?" I ask.

She blushes. "Um, not exactly. Yours is kind of a special case."

A special case. Right. "Are all girls from your time like you?" No, they are not.

"Like me? Like… they're mediators?"

"No. Unafraid, like you. Brave, like you."

She smiles, but she doesn't look happy. "I'm not brave Jesse."

Okay, so she doesn't see it? "You are staying here, even though you know that something terrible is going to happen."

"Well, sure," she says, brushing it off. "Because that's what I came here for, to make sure it doesn't." That isn't true. "Although to be truthful… really I came here to stop him, Paul I mean, from stopping Diego, because if you don't die tonight, then you and I- in the future, where I come from- will never meet, and I couldn't stand to let tat happen, and you even said- in the future- that you didn't want it to happen. Only… only… here I am, letting it happen. So you see, I'm not really brave at all."

I look at her and I know this is her idea of an apology. She shouldn't have to apologize, not to me. "I think your wrong," I tell her. She smiles at me… and then we hear it.

**Authors Note- There is no Suze's POV in the next few chapters. You want her POV, read the book.**

The scrape of a barn door. Diego is here. I put up a hand, and notice Slater sitting up out of the corner of my eye.

I watch them hide away, and I lie down. He walks up to me slowly. He pulls his belt taut, and I speak. In Spanish.

"So it IS true."

Diego raises an eyebrow, and replies, "So you know. Yes, it's true, I'm here to kill you." Oh, is that all?

I can hear Slater translating in a whisper, and I speak to cover it up, "Has Maria sent you?"

Diego laughs, nods, and lunges. I rise up and meet Diego's attack. He has the weight advantage, but I'm faster. We fight for a minute or two before Susannah screams, "Jesse, knife!"

Diego spins around, calling "Who's there?" in English. I quickly pull my own knife from my boot. Diego and I circle each other while Slater and Susannah argue. Susannah now believes that Slater wants me to die, and Slater thinks she is 'nuts.'

"Why aren't you helping him?" she screams.

"I don't need any help," I tell her.

"Who are these people?" Diego snarls.

"No one," I say. "Pay no attention to them." _Please don't pay attention to them. _"This is between you and me."

Except that Diego doesn't listen. Instead he grabs Susannah and holds his knife to her throat. "Drop the knife or the girl dies."

I drop the knife. Diego throws Susannah down and she knocks over a lamp. She is instantly surrounded by flames, but does not appear to notice. Oh no. In a panic, I twist Diego's arm and send him crashing down below.

"You did it! You killed him!" Susannah cries.

"Suze? Um, Suze," Paul tries to get her attention.

"He did it Paul, he's going to live!" She turns to me, "You're going to live!"

"Susannah," I tell her, "stay where you are." She finally realizes that she's in a firetrap. I grab a horse blanket and run through the flames. I knock her over, and kick a hole in the wood. I grab her hand. "We're going to have to jump," I tell her. "Do you understand me Susannah? We jump together on the count of three." I take her waist. "One… two… three…" I jump and whisper in her ear, _"Shift."_

And then, oblivion.


	9. Chapter 8

**Author's note- Last Chapter! I hope you like how I end it… 'Thank you' s to Livia Santana and Helena of the Woods for reviewing… let's do this thing.**

Chapter Eight

I wake up in my bed. Nombre de dios, what a nightmare! I know it wasn't a dream, but I also know that the course of time has been changed. Susannah is alive, as am I, and tonight, I take her to the dance.

I can hardly believe how differently things might have turned out, with Susannah dead and me reincarnated. I wasn't even sure I believed in reincarnation. I do now. My cell phone rings. It's David.

"You fixed it, didn't you?"

"What?"

"I know that wasn't a dream, Jesse. I know you went back in time and changed everything."

"How do you know?" I ask.

"Jesse, I have my brain hooked up to thirty different wires to map out REM and what is caused by it, and I wasn't asleep, so it stands to reason that I wasn't dreaming."

I laugh. Only David. "Don't tell anyone, it will only upset them."

"I'm not an idiot!"

I stand in the front room of Susannah's home, as Mr. Ackerman grills me and Mrs. Ackerman stares me down. David has been talking about aeronautic advances that I would be interested in, if I was not so nervous, and the dog seems determined to embarrass me in front of Susannah's family.

But it all seems worth it when I see Susannah in a white dress, making her way down the stairs. One day she will wear another white dress… but right now, I'm happy to be accompanying her to the dance.

Her parents take our picture, and after a quiet disagreement in the car, we're off.

At the dance, we run into a few people. I know that every single boy in the room envies me. Susannah and Slater clear the air, and while I still don't trust him, I do trust Susannah, and her judgment.

Susannah speaks with her father about midway through, and he vanishes.

"He's gone?" I ask.

"He's gone," Susannah says, then gasps. "Jesse… can you… did you…?"

"See your father just then?" I ask. "Yes."

"Then you can… you can…"

"See and speak to ghosts? Apparently so. Why? Is that a problem?"

"No… except that… that would mean… that means you're a…"

"Querida, let's just dance," I say pulling Susannah toward me. And so we do.


	10. Epilogue

**Author's Note- Okay, I know, that was the end of the series, but I couldn't resist adding this bit.**

Epilogue

(Slaski's POV)

They don't think I know much about anything. Actually, I know more than mot people. I know what happened before they changed it, and I know how to make a shifter out of a skeptic. Don't believe me? Well let me make one thing clear. Magic and science are the same thing. We're not crazy

We're shifters, and we know what will happen. Those kids aren't going to know what hit 'em.


End file.
